Probate Administration

Probate refers to the process where a court oversees the administration of a deceased person's estate.  The purpose of probate administration is to ensure that any final bills and expenses of the decedent are paid, including any taxes owed, and any remaining assets are distributed to the beneficiaries named in the decedent's will.  If the decedent died without a will, or "intestate," the decedent's estate will be distributed to the decedent's heirs as defined under California's laws governing intestate succession.

The Superior Court of the County of Santa Clara has a diagram on their website that outlines the steps required in the probate process.  To view the diagram, click here.  It should be noted that the timing of the steps shown on this diagram will vary depending on a number of factors, including the nature and complexity of the estate, the amount of time required for the probate referee to complete the appraisal, the number of creditors filing claims against the estate, the sale of any real property, the requirement of any estate tax returns, the court's schedule, and the existence of any dispute involving the estate.

Our highly skilled San Jose probate lawyers and staff are extremely versed in all aspects of the probate process.  Probate services include advising personal representatives in all legal and tax issues resulting from a person's death.  Probate administration services include the  preparation of all necessary court pleadings, court appearances, assisting the personal representative in the preparation of an inventory of estate assets and marshalling those assets, sale of estate assets, payments of debts of the decedent, addressing the claims of creditors, and final distribution to those entitled to the decedent's estate.

Trust Administration

Temmerman, Cilley & Kohlmann, LLP provides a full range of trust administration services to trustees.  Trustees may find themselves in the often confusing process of administering a spouse's or parent's trust after the death of a loved one.  We understand that this can be a very difficult time for the surviving family members.  We stay involved with the trustees from the beginning to the end of this process and provide step-by-step guidance to assist a trustee in inventorying and valuing trust assets, providing  notifications to the trust beneficiaries, selling assets when necessary, and distributing assets to subtrusts or outright to beneficiaries.  We also make sure that our trustee clients understand their fiduciary duties and advise them on how to best protect themselves from any liability to the beneficiaries of the trust.  When a client has an existing relationship with other professionals such as financial advisors, accountants, insurance brokers, and financial planners, we work closely as a team with those professionals to ensure the smooth and efficient administration of the trust.

Our trustee clients include family members of the decedent, private professional fiduciaries, and corporate fiduciaries.  We have administered a wide variety of estates, from the smallest and simplest trusts to trusts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.   With nine attorneys (two of whom are also CPAs) and two paralegals involved in our trust administration practice, we have the depth of resources necessary to handle even the most complicated trust administrations.  We also internally prepare accountings for trust beneficiaries, prepare estate and gift tax returns, and defend those tax returns if audited.  We have repeatedly been successful at obtaining extensions of time to pay estate taxes, often for several years, when an estate has difficulty liquidating sufficient assets to pay estate taxes.  We also have repeatedly been successful in convincing the court to modify and terminate irrevocable trusts that are no longer serving the purpose for which they were created.

Due to the depth of our resources we are able to handle administrations that include a wide variety of assets.  For example, we have advised and assisted co-trustees with administering trusts that own wholly owned businesses, partially owned businesses (including wineries, hotels, restaurants and art galleries, closely held family businesses, limited partnerships, LLCs, and corporations), wholly owned real properties and partially owned real properties, including the sale of some of these properties to raise funds to pay estate taxes.  We have also counseled trustees on their duties to complete due diligence to ensure trust businesses are being appropriately managed.

We frequently receive referrals from other attorneys in cases where the trust administration process has broken down for any one of a number of reasons, such as co-trustees who have difficulty working together or trust documents with unclear or conflicting terms.  For further information regarding the trust administration services offered by our firm, contact the San Jose trust attorneys at Temmerman, Cilley & Kohlmann, LLP.

We look forward to assisting you with all aspects of the probate administration process.  Contact Temmerman, Cilley & Kohlmann, LLP.  Our San Jose law firm represents clients in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Francsico counties.